Rush Hour 3
Rush Hour 3 is the third installment in the martial arts/action-adventure Rush Hour franchise starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, that began with Rush Hour (1998 film) and continued with Rush Hour 2 (''2001 film). The film was officially announced on May 7, 2006, and filming began on July 4, 2006. The film is set in Paris and Los Angeles. ''Rush Hour 3 ''was released on August 10 2007, in Canada, the US, and UK. Academy Award-winning film director Roman Polanski co-stars as a French police official involved in (Chan and Tucker's characters) Lee and Carter's case. The film will not be screened in People's Republic of China theatres this year due to an "overabundance" of imported films released in 2007, as stated by an import official (China only allows a certain amount of imported films to be released nationwide in theatres each year). Cast *Chris Tucker as James Carter *Jackie Chan as Yan Lee *Hiroyuki Sanada as Kenji *Noemie Lenoir as Genevieve *Youki Kudoh as Jasmine *Yvan Attal as George *Max Von Sydow as Varden Reynard *Tzi Ma as Solon Han *Zhang Jingchu as Soo-Yung Han *Dana Ivey as Sister Agnes *Henry O as Master Yu *Roman Polanski as Revi (uncredited) *Philip Baker Hall as William Diel (uncredited) *Sarah Sahi as Zoe (uncredited) *Mia Tyler as Marsha Plot Three years after the events of ''Rush Hour 2, James Carter is no longer a detective, but a traffic cop on the streets of Los Angeles. Hong Kong Police Force Chief Inspector LeeInspector Leeis now the bodyguard for his friend Ambassador Han, the former consul from the first film. Lee and Carter are no longer on speaking terms after an incident in New York City when Carter accidentally — but not fatally — shot Lee's ex-girlfriend Secret Service agent Isabella Molina (Roselyn Sanchez), an event which led to their breakup. During discussions in the World Criminal Court, as the Ambassador addresses the importance of fighting the Triad organization, he announces that he may know the whereabouts of the Triad leadership known as Shy Shen. Suddenly, an assassination attempt on Han's life takes place and he gets shot, disrupting the conference. Lee traces and pursues the assassin through the streets of Los Angeles and eventually corners him, only to discover that the assassin is his Japanese foster brother Kenji (Hiroyuki Sanada). When Lee hesitates to shoot Kenji, Carter, having heard of Han's incident on the police radio, shows up in a car driving towards the two but Kenji attempts to shoot Carter and manages to escape after Carter nearly runs Lee over. In the hospital, Lee and Carter learn from Carter's boss Captain Diel (Philip Baker Hall) that the bullet has missed Han's heart and that he will make a full recovery. Han's daughter, Soo-Yung (Zhang Jingchu), now grown up, arrives and greets them both then makes Lee and Carter promise to capture the one behind the shooting. She then informs Lee and Carter that her father gave her an envelope which contains important information regarding the Triad, and that the envelope is in her locker at the martial arts studio where she works. Lee and Carter make their way to the martial arts studio,where they battle a giant, (Sun Ming Ming), but was told that a gang of armed men have already arrived and emptied the contents from her locker by the Master of the studio and said that Soo-Yung and Han are in danger, and rush back to the hospital. Once the two reach the hospital they notice that the security and staff have all disappeared. The hospital nurse explains that they were called away, at that moment a gang of assassins arrive to kill Soo-Yung and Han. Lee and Carter manage to defeat them, with the help of Soo-Yung, and interrogate the leader of the assassins. Much to Lee and Carter's surprise, the Asian assassin only speaks French. With the help of a resident nun, Sister Agnes (Dana Ivey), who translates, they find out that they are marked for death by the Triad along with Soo-Yung and Han. For her protection, they take her to the French Embassy and leave her under the care of Reynard (Max von Sydow), the French ambassador and the chairman of the World Criminal Court. When a car bomb detonates, nearly killing Reynard and Soo-Yung, Lee and Carter decide to go to Paris to investigate. In Paris, (after getting a painful cavity search from a Parisian commissioner, played by (Roman Polanski) Lee and Carter meet up with George, a taxi driver (Yvan Attal). George refuses to drive Carter, saying that Americans make him sick, as they are "the most violent people on Earth" — to which Carter replies by forcing George, at gunpoint, to drive to a Triad hideout disguised as a gentleman's club (and to sing the American Anthem). There, Lee fights off a Triad assassin named Jasmine (Youki Kudoh); meanwhile, Carter meets a beautiful woman whose name is not disclosed (Noémie Lenoir). However, Lee and Carter are both forced out of the club and after a harrowing car chase, they are captured by the Triads. They manage to escape, but then have a falling out concerning Lee's relationship with Kenji. Shortly after Carter leaves, Reynard appears. Lee asks who Shy Shen is, but Reynard tells him that Shy Shen is not a man, but a list of the Triad leaders. Reynard reveals that Han's informant knows where Shy Shen is. The informant turns out to be Geneviève, the woman Carter met at the gentlemen's club and both Lee and Carter end up looking for her. After the two have encountered Geneviève, they save her from an assassination attempt by the Triads and flee to their hotel room. However, they are attacked again by Jasmine who sneaks up behind Carter and Genevieve who are making love in bed. When Lee tries to fend her off with his pistol, Jasmine throws a knife in both directions of Carter/Genevieve and Lee. In an attempt to dodge the knife, Lee accidentally shoots Genevieve and becomes even with Carter. No longer safe at the hotel where the triads know their whereabouts, they decide to hide out with George, who now has fostered a great appreciation for the United States. Lee and Carter learn that Geneviève not only knows where the list is, but that she is the list. The names of the thirteen Triad leaders have been tattooed on the back of her head, as per tradition, and Genevieve explains that she will be decapitated and buried if the Triads capture her. When Lee and Carter bring Geneviève to Reynard, he asks Geneviève to show him the list. Lee points out that they never told him that she had the list imprinted on her head. Reynard then reveals that he has been working with the Triads all along. Kenji calls and informs Lee that he has captured Soo-Yung and that he would like to exchange her for Geneviève. Lee arrives at the exchange point, the Jules Verne Restaurant in the Eiffel Tower, with Carter, disguised as Geneviève. Kenji challenges Lee to a sword fight, during which the two fall off the tower and get caught in a safety net. Lee's sword cuts the safety net open and it collapses, leaving both men hanging on for dear life. Lee then grabs Kenji's arm, intending to save his life, but placing his own at risk. Kenji willingly lets go of Lee and falls to his death, saving Lee's life. Meanwhile, Carter single-handedly defeats the rest of the Triad henchmen, celebrating by dancing to the beat of Carl Douglas' "Kung Fu Fighting". He then goes to save Soo-Yung. Jasmine arrives and attempts to kill Soo-Yung and Carter by unlatching the rope Soo-Yung is tied to. Carter grabs the rope before it can fall, thus saving Soo-Yung, who kicks Jasmine into one of the rotating cranks, which crushes her in half and kills her off screen. As Carter and Lee send Soo-Yung down the elevator, more Triads arrive. In order to escape, Lee and Carter grab and untie a large French flag hanging over the side of the tower and use it as a makeshift parachute and float to safety. Unfortunately, they are confronted by Reynard, who is holding Geneviève hostage and threatening to kill her and frame Lee and Carter for her murder. However, George, having followed Lee and Carter, shoots Reynard from behind and declares "Case Closed." The police arrive, with the commissioner from earlier gloating and trying to get undeserved credit. After giving the commissioner a team punch to the face, Lee and Carter leave the scene dancing to War like they did in the first film. References *World Criminal Court *UCLA *Paris, France *American Haters *Vietnam War *Gulf War *NBA *Halle Berry *Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon *Yakuza *Chenzhou *Chicken fights *Indiana Jones & The Temple Of Doom *LAPD *Fax Machine *Eiffel Tower Critical reception Rush Hour 3 was panned by critics. On Rotten Tomatoes the film had a score of 18% based on 157 reviews with a consensus of "Rush Hour 3 {C}is a tired rehash of earlier films, and a change of scenery can't hide a lack of new ideas." Todd Gilchrist of IGN movies said, "A movie that not only depends on but demands you don't think in order to enjoy it." Christian Toto of The Washington Times said, "The Rush job should put the franchise down for {C}good." Christopher Tookey of The Daily Mail said, "Infecting this third movie is an extra, deeply unpleasant level of racism that we haven't seen before in the series." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times was slightly more positive giving the film two stars and saying, "...once you realize it's only going {C}to be so good, you settle back and enjoy that modest degree of goodness, which is at least not badness, and besides, if you're watching Rush Hour 3, you obviously didn't have anything better to do, anyway." James Berardinelli of ReelViews gave the film one-and-a-half stars out of four, and said the movie {C}was dull, uninspired and redundant.5 Desson Thomson of The Washington Post, giving it three and a half stars out of five, said "at the risk of eternal {C}damnation on the Internet, I admit to laughing at — even feeling momentarily touched by — Rush Hour 3." Box office performance The film grossed an estimated $18.9 million on its opening day August 10. On Saturday it dropped 9.7% from its opening day to an estimated $17.1 million and on Sunday it grossed an estimated $13.0 million. Overall it opened as the top film in U.S. and Canadian theaters that weekend, taking in an estimated $49.1 million, beating out the previous week's #1 film, The Bourne Ultimatum. Sequel Brett Ratner introduced Rush Hour 3 at the Mann’s Chinese Theater premiere on Tuesday with a joke: “I’d like to welcome everyone to the first production meeting of Rush Hour 4.” After the laughs subsided, and the film played, New Line Cinema Co-Chairman and Co-Ceo told Variety that he’d “love” to do another Rush Hour depending on the success of Rush Hour 3. Cars in the Movie * Mercedes-Benz SL63 AMG (R230 model), used in initial chase sequence (Mercedes-Benz R230) * Mercedes-Benz S-Class (2007 W221 model), used by VIP entourage (Mercedes-Benz W221) * Maybach 62, used by Chinese Ambassador (Maybach 57 and 62) * Chevrolet Corvette (Chevrolet Corvette C3, circa 1970s), driven by Chris Tucker * Renault (various models on city streets, including taxi) (Renault Vel Satis) * Peugeot (various models on city streets) (Peugeot 107) External links *Official Website *Official Trailer *[http://www.hollywoodchicago.com/2007/08/rush-hour-3-in-one-word-meh.html Rush Hour 3 at HollywoodChicago.com] *Official MySpace page *[http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?article_class=12&no=376529&rel_no=1 OhmyNews International on Rush Hour 3] Category:Film